Rail-joint



E. F. NIEHAUS.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25. I919.

Patented Oct. 21, 12119.

Svwewtoz .Elljehcazs;

r V EARL F. NIEHAUS, or'NoKoMrs, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-JOINT, r

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL F. NIEHAUS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nokomis, in the county of Montgomery, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full.- clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' bolts and other parts likely to become loose, I

This invention relates to novel and useful improvements in rail joints, theobject thereof being to provide a simple and novel construction for joining the meeting ends of rails so as to obviate the necessity of employing theusual fish plates, connecting thereby reducing the cost of maintenance and also providing a joint .which will keep the tread surfaces of the meeting ends of the rail sections in alinement or practically continuous, thus rfo rming a smooth tread surface over the joint, so as to do away with the usual hammering noise, as the wheels pass over the joints, as is common with joints as at present eommony used.

-A further object ofthe invention is to provide an improved rail joint, in which the meeting ends of the railsections are locked.

together in a novel manner so as to prevent displacement thereof one relative to the other'ina' vertical or lateral direction, the oints being so arranged as to permit the intertitting of the-ends thereof, byraising the end of one rail sectionremote from that which being joined to another rail section, while the latter rail section is in position and held from displacement or from slipping relative to the rail section which is being applied. thereby facilitating the joining of the meeting ends of the rail sections, as distinguished from that type'of joint wherein it is necessary to dispose bothrail'sections in a raised position angula'rly with respect to one another in joining the same.

WVith the above objects and others in view, as will appear, as the specificationproce'eds, the invention comprises certain novel arrangements of partsas will be. hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed. 3'

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthisapplication, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the specification fi1Ild"WheI'e1I1Z V r Figure l .ilsa' side elevation of the meet-- 8 Fig. 14 is a similar view of Specification of Letters Patent. Patfil'lted 0017. 21, 1919. Application filed A ril 25,1 19. Serial No. 292,536. 7

ing ends oftwo rail sections having the improved joint;

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the manner of assembling or connecting the rail sec: tions; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one end of eachrail section and the opposite end. Referring to the drawings in detail, the abutting ends of two rail sections are in dicated atglO and 11, said rails having the usual base 12, web 13 and head orball 14.

The rail'end 1O isprovided initsweb ,por-

tion with an undercut arcuate recess :15 leading from the abutting end thereof and fhaving the walls 16 and 1-7 ;thereoflocated on concentric circles. This'recess is open at the end ofthe rail and at the top is limited by the bottom face of the ball 14, thus pro viding an overhanging lip l8 with its bottom edge forming the wall 17, said lip tapering in the directionlof. formation of the recess. z s i The wall 16 is spaced from the base'of thev rail, and-at either side of theweb, longitudina l rectangular projections 19 are formed terminating in alinement with theabutting end of the rail-and suitably formed there:

pwith againstthe base 12; Either this-section or the other section now: to be described, j may beapplied by tilting it upwardly to engage-the opposite section, 'so long ,as the angular relation, is as shown in Fig.2 of thedrawingsfl The rail end ll has formed uponz'the web thereof, an extension 20 with a convex edge.

21 and a concave upper edge2-2,,both being formed on concentric circlesand the arcuate recess forming the upper edge extending from a line-coincident with the bottom of the tread or ball :14 'to a point slightly below the same; The free upper edge of-the projection extends horizontally as shown at 23, being continuous with' the top portion of theweb where it leaves the bottom. face of :thetread'orball 14 forming the head of the rail, this projection being .designedto exactly =fit the recess lo in the rall section 1 0. At either side. of. the'webfportion of the .rail section 11, there is provided over the-base 12,vertical andialongitudinal.iprojections124: having the ends thereof;j-proj ecting beyond the abuttingend of. the rall 7 section: 11 and formedwith bottom recesses, 1

25having convex bottom edges 26 tapering uppermost. These recesses are provided with end walls 27 terminating at a spaced distance above the base of the rail, at which point the walls 26 of the recesses 25 are continued toward the-free extremities of the projections 24, the upper surfaces of which are preferably disposed on a horizontal plane and spaced apart at either side of the rail web immediately below the bottom edge of the extension or tongue 20.

In this manner, by tilting either the rail section 10 or the rail section 11' upwardly while the opposite rail section is anchored to the ties, the tongue or extension 20 may be caused to enter the recess 15 in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. During this engagement, the-projections 2 through the medium of the convex lower edges of the extensions thereof, will ride upon the rectangular projections 19, the tongue or extension 20 riding against the convex and concave walls of the recess 15 until the edge 23 abuts the bottom of the wall of the rail section 10 with the projection or overhanging lip portion'18 extending into the recess 22, to hold the rail sections against longitudinal displacement one with respect to the other. By disposing the projections 2 1 upon opposite sides of the rail section 11, the rail section 10 will be held therebetween, thereby preventing lateral displacement of one section relative to the other. However, theparts are so interfitted as to allow suflicient contraction and exthe substantially horizontally positionedlower convex edges thereof with the proections 19, will serve to support the tread surfaces in alinement to form a substan 'tially continuous tread surface so as to do away with the-hammering of the car wheels when the latter pass over the joint, as 'commonly occurs owingto the car wheels striking the ends of the rails with the subsequent ramming and battering of the rails, due to the construction of the joint, as at present used. The joint is also preferably placed directly over a railroad tie, so as to give greater sustaining power, and by reason of the arcuateformation of the edge portions of the interfitting parts, angular movement relatively of the rail sections, will not result in the destruction of the meeting ends of the rail sections and they may be readily displaced one with respect to the other, without the usual difficulties caused by the use of fish plates, bolts and the 1. A rail'joint comprising two rail sectom wall and a concave top wall forming a recess, the free edge of the extension extend ing horizontally to abut the end of the recess and the overhanging projection of the first named rail section engaging in the recess formed at the top of the extension, and projections upon either side of the web portion and the second rail sections to bear upon said horizontal bearing surfaces, as and for the purposes specified.

2. A rail joint comprising two rail sections, one of said rail sections having a recess formed in the free edge of the web thereof extending to the base of the ball of the rail section and having a concave bottom wall and a convex top wall forming an overhanging projection, said recess terminatingspaced from the base of the rail, projections upon the base of the rail adjacent to the'web thereof having horizontal bearing faces and {the other rail section having an extension upon the web thereof with a convex bottom wall and a concave top wall, the free edge of the extension extending horizontally to abut the base of the ball of the rail section first mentioned beneath the 'ball thereof and the overhanging pro' jection of the first named rail section engaging in a recess formed at the top of the extension, and projections upon either side of the web portion of the second rail sections, said projections having extensions produced beyond the ends of the second rail section, adapted to abut with the end of the first rail section and having convex bottom edges, said extensions tapering toward their free ends and the bottom edges thereof tern1inating spaced from the base of the rail to bear and movably engage the horizontal bearing faces of the projections of the first section, said extensions being designed to engage upon opposite sides of the web portion of the first named rail section and permitting engagement or disengagement of the rail sections with one tilted upwardly angularly with respect to the other.

In testimony whereof, ;I afiix my signa ture, in the presence of two "witnesses.

EARL F. NIEHAUS.

- Witnesses:

HENRY NIEHAUS, C. H. SMooK.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each; by addressing the Qonimissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

